Love I Never Knew I Had
by xgreyscalzona
Summary: April and Jackson have always been very close best friends. Now that their residency years are coming to an end and it's time for their boards, will they discover their true feelings towards each other that could change their lives forever? *Writing for this story has been stopped for a while. I don't know how long that will be but I won't leave this story unfinished.*
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do not own any of the characters.**

"Hey!" Jackson yelled as he spotted April down the hall and ran towards her, "I need to ask you a question if you have time?" He said while approaching April just as her pager went off. Jackson followed April to wherever she was being paged and waited until she answered.

"Yeah, I have a minute." April said her voice sounding shaky, "but you need to talk fast because I've just been paged to the ER and I won't have time when I get there."

Jackson walked with April and kept quiet for a moment because he was a little nervous for what he was about to say afraid that he would sound dumb.

"Um, okay," He said his voice cracking, "I've been talking with the other residents about the upcoming oral board exams" Jackson paused for a minute then continued, "and I heard they've all started studying and I'm kind of behind. So, um, I was wondering if maybe you and the others would be interested in getting together and start studying as a group to help me catch up a little and so we all don't have to study alone." Jackson finished and waited for a response.

April continued to walk and zoned out after Jackson finished talking.

"April, did you hear me?"

April snapped back in reality. "Uh yeah, I heard you. Sorry Jackson. I kind of zoned out for a minute." They arrived at the ER entrance, "oh and before I walk in, about your idea for the studying, I think it's a great idea. Talk to the others and see if they're in too." April smiled at Jackson and walked into the ER and got to work.

Jackson stood in the hall and eventually walked over and sat down on an unoccupied gurney. He pulled out his phone and started a group message and included Meredith, Cristina and Alex's numbers. Jackson was kind of stumped because he didn't know how to start the message without sounding the same way he felt trying to tell April. He sat on the gurney for five more minutes still without a single thought in his head. At this point Jackson didn't really care whether or not he sounded dumb and just decided to write the text no matter how he worded it. He wrote the text a read it out loud to himself to see how it sounded:

"_Hey guys, so I was wondering if you all wanted to get together after work and study for the oral exams as a group so none of us have to study alone. I already talked to April about this whole idea and she thinks it's a great idea, of course, and she said she's in. It's up you guys whether or not you want to come. Just message me back and let me know."_

Jackson sent the message and suddenly his pager went off and startled him. He looked down at the message glowing dimly. He was being paged by Mark Sloan, the head of plastic surgery. His eyes almost popped out of his head when he soon remembered him and Dr. Sloan had a surgery this afternoon. He hopped off of the gurney and ran to the scrub room nearly knocking over medical supplies and running into hospital staff along the way. He reached the scrub room, walked in, put on a sterile scrub cap and mask, and scrubbed his arms all the way up to his elbows. He quickly dried them off and walked inside the OR and prepared to get gowned and gloved.

"Dr. Avery, it's nice of you to finally join us." Mark said with an attitude as he pulled off burned skin from a patient.

"I'm sorry Sloan, I am very sorry. The surgery slipped my mind for just a second. I was taking care of other things. Again, I am very so-"

Mark cut him off, "I don't care what you were doing just don't let it happen again. Now get over here and help me peel burned skin if you still want a future in plastics."

Jackson walked to the opposite side of the table and stepped forward closer to the patient. He inhaled and exhaled a deep breath before asking the scrub nurse for a tweezers-like instrument to gently peel off the burnt flesh.

After six hours, the surgery was finally over. The day was coming to an end which meant it was almost time to start studying for the oral boards. Jackson pulled out his phone from his scrub pants and looked to see if Meredith, Cristina or Alex replied. There was nothing. His messages were completely empty except for the text he sent out six hours ago. Jackson stood there rubbing his face with his hands feeling exhausted. Maybe he should cancel the studying tonight and just go straight home and go to bed. That thought had crossed his mind multiple times today until he looked towards the nurses' station on the surgical floor and saw all the residents crowded around it.

"Why haven't any of you texted me back yet?" Jackson said as he slowly walked toward everyone.

"What do you mean?" Meredith asked.

"I mean that I texted all three of you six hours ago and none of you responded."

"Well my phone is in my locker and I've been in surgery all day. I don't know about Cristina or Alex."

"I got your text." Alex said while smirking, "I just didn't feel like replying."

Now that Jackson knew some reasons why two didn't respond, it still left him wondering why Cristina didn't.

"Cristina? What about you?"

Cristina lay with her head down on the counter. Jackson just thought that she was ignoring him so he walked up and shook Cristina by her shoulder. She jumped instantly and smacked Jackson on the hand.

"Don't wake me up like that." Cristina growled.

"I didn't know you were asleep, I just thought you were ignoring me."

"As much as I enjoy ignoring you, I didn't this time. I was actually asleep."

"Good to know," Jackson said sarcastically, "well since you guys don't have your phones, I messaged you all earlier and asked you if you want to get together after our shifts were over and head back to my place and study as a group for the oral boards so we don't have to do it alone."

They all nodded their heads in agreement and walked to the residents lounge to change out of their scrubs and back into their normal clothes. After they all changed, they one-by-one walked out of the door and headed over to the elevator and pressed the arrow pointing down. Just as they walked into the elevator and the door started to close, April ran up and caught it with her hand and walked on.

"Geez, you guys couldn't have waited just a longer for me?" April said as she zipped up her jacket. "My surgery took a little longer than we thought but the guy is alive."

"That's great, April." Alex said rubbing his face, "Now can you just shut up until we get to Avery's place?"

"You're such an ass. I don't see how a guy like you manages to attract women."

"I have a headache and my back hurts. Cut me some slack."

Alex rested his head against the elevator wall until it dinged and they all walked off. The ride to Jackson's house wasn't very long, but that's what it felt like since everyone was so tired. When he parked the car in his driveway, everyone got out and waited for him to unlock the door so they could all get settled. When he did finally get the door unlocked, everyone headed straight for his front room and made themselves at home. Jackson shortly entered the room with a twelve pack of beer for everyone to enjoy while they studied. One o'clock in the morning rolled around and the group was still studying strong. Almost every person in the room was drunk and probably wouldn't remember a thing they studied the next day. April got up to use the bathroom and came out three minutes later and everyone had fallen asleep. She didn't know what else to do, and she didn't want to wake anyone, to she did what everyone else was and grabbed a small blanket off of the couch and curled up falling asleep quickly. 

**This is my first story so go easy on me and let me know whether or not I should continue writing for this specific story! Thanks! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I don't own any of the characters.**

**Also, sorry for such a long wait for this chapter… I have been super busy lately and haven't actually had time to sit down and write this chapter. I've found that my schedule is crazy and the only free time I have is at night but by then I'm so worn out… Anyway, I'm finally able to write since I have some time off so I thought you guys shouldn't wait any longer. **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

The next morning April woke up before everyone else, seeing as though she was the only one who managed to stay sober. When April awoke, she sat on the couch staring at the others who were still sound asleep because of how much they drank last night. She decided to get up off of the couch and make breakfast for everyone for when they would eventually wake up. As she exited the front room, she made her way over at least ten empty twelve-packs of beer and study cards scattered all over the floor. April was clueless as too why the front room was incredibly dirtier than it was the night before. She wondered where all of the twelve-packs of beer came from and why all of their study cards were scattered all over the floor because as far as she knew, everyone had been asleep before this happened and the room was clean.

On her way to the kitchen, she picked up every single empty twelve-pack she saw in sight so no one else would trip over them because she knew once the others woke up, they would potentially step on or trip over them because they wouldn't have been paying attention due to the hangover they would most likely have.

April decided to make everyone scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast. She turned on the stove and put the skillet over the burner to let it heat up a little, walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed the carton of eggs, cracked them open in a bowl, mixed them together, and poured the contents into the skillet. Then she turned on the other burner on the opposite side for the bacon, ripped the package open and laid them perfectly even on the skillet one-by-one. While the food was cooking, April heard a noise approaching her from behind and she turned around to see Cristina sitting on a stool that sat on the opposite side of the island.

"What smells so good?" Cristina asked sounding groggy.

"The breakfast I'm making!" April said enthusiastically.

"You only made breakfast for yourself knowing there are four other people here?"

April rolled her eyes, "Of course not. I'm not that mean. It's for all of us whenever the others decide to wake up."

"How much longer will it take? I'm starving."

"Only a couple more minutes… You should wake the others so they can eat and not be late for work today."

"I forgot about work today and I have a headache." Cristina sighed as she went to wake the others.

"That's what you get for drinking so much." April laughed.

Cristina was the first to walk back into the kitchen followed by Meredith, Alex and Jackson. Once they all smelled whatever April had cooked, it didn't take them long to dig right in. There was talk about what they thought the boards were going to be like, who would most likely pass and who would fail, and what sort of questions would be asked. They all talked about what surgical specialties they had chosen. Meredith: General, Cristina: Cardio, Alex: Peds, April: Trauma and Jackson: Plastics.

"April, I thought you were initially focusing on Neuro? What changed your mind?" Meredith asked curiously.

"Yeah, I was originally focusing on Neuro, but after that trauma-certification test Dr. Hunt made us do, he made sense of what he told me and that's when I realized I wasn't cut-out for Neuro like I thought I was."

"Speaking of not being cut-out for a specialty," Jackson said grinning, "I would've never taken Alex to be the type for Pediatrics."

"Yeah, seriously Alex, what changed your mind? I thought yours was going to be Plastics like you said our first year as interns." Cristina said punching Alex's arm.

"Look, I don't know what changed my mind," Alex snapped, "but can we stop talking about the boards and our specialties and crap?"

"And to think I thought you were in a good mood today." April said trying to contain her laughter.

"We should probably start getting ready for work. Our shifts start in an hour." Jackson said changing the topic.

With that, they all ate the rest of their food that still needed to be eaten and started getting ready for work. Jackson was the only one who was actually able to get ready because he was in his own house and the thought of his friends showering in his bathroom freaked him out a little. Before they all left, they cleaned up the rest of the mess that was left in Jackson's front room and was out the door in a matter of seconds. The drive to the hospital felt longer than it was driving to Jackson's last night but then again they weren't nearly as tired now as they had been. Still on the road, Alex, who was sitting in the passenger side of the car, turned on the radio as a way of entertaining everyone while on their way to the hospital and to try and take their mind of the countless amount of work they would have to do when they arrived. Small talk was made and the residents were so caught up that they didn't even notice they had arrived in the hospital parking lot until the car came to a complete stop.

They got out of the car and walked in the hospital through the main entrance; a pair of glass double-doors that had metal handles. As soon as they walked in, they stopped and took in the scenery. They were always so busy at the hospital, and they worked in it every day, they never realized how big it was. There was a waiting area on the left hand side and a nurses' station on the right. Straight ahead was a flight of stairs that led to what they liked to call a balcony along with a pair of elevators further on down the hall that were used quite frequently. A beeping noise suddenly took the five out of their trance when they realized they were being paged 911 to the ER, also called the pit.

They rushed to the residents' lounge and quickly changed into their scrubs nearly knocking each other over as they ran for the door. When arriving at the ER entrance, they stood in awe watching patients being brought in by the busload. They didn't stop any attending to ask what happened, instead rushed over to any severely injured patient that they hoped would need surgery in the long-run, except April.

April stood and watched as dozens of people were being brought in on gurneys with multiple broken bones, severe burns all over their bodies and tons of open wounds. She didn't know where to start and she didn't know what to do because all of these people needed help but she wouldn't be able to save them all. When she finally decided to move and help a patient, she was called over by Dr. Bailey who was in need of more hands.

"Kepner! I could use a couple more hands if you're free!"

April scurried toward the direction Bailey was heading and ended up in Trauma One. April was handed the clipboard with the patient's information and began to read it.

"Megan Reynolds, twenty-five year old female, found unconscious under a pile of rubble after the collapse of a hotel building."

She handed the clipboard to one of the ER nurses.

"Her abdomens rigid, her left pupil is blown and both legs seem to be broken. Let's get her up to CT now and page Ortho and Neuro for consults!"

April followed along with Bailey as she took the patient up to CT. Halfway there, the patient started to come out of unconsciousness.

"W… Where- where a… am I? What ha… What happened?"

"She's waking up! Hi, Megan, I'm Dr. Bailey. You're at Seattle Grace-Mercy West hospital after you were found under a pile of rubble because the hotel you were staying in collapsed. Do you remember what happened; can you tell me what happened?"

"N… No, I wasn't st… Staying at the hotel, I was just visiting my m…Mother. She flew in from Pennsylvania. I'm starting Med-School tomorrow and she wanted to be here…." The patient started to trail off and fall back into unconsciousness, "we were- we were just talking and sud… Suddenly the floor fell through. I don't- I don't remember anything after that. Please, you ha… Have to find her…" Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she started to crash.

"We can't wait for CT," Bailey was screaming for a crash cart. "We have to get her into surgery now!"

The staff pushing the gurney stopped in the middle of the hallway as she flat-lined and April shocked her with the panels. It took her four shocks, all at three hundred-sixty, and the patient revived. Immediately after she was revived, she was rushed into the OR. Bailey and Kepner walked in not too long after the patient had been put under. Bailey stood silent, motionless and breathing heavily.

"Dr. Bailey?" April said softly but loud enough to be heard.

Bailey stood there for another five minutes still silent and motionless but her breathing had calmed down. She finally opened her eyes and looked at everyone.

"Alright, this patient has already died once; let's make sure it doesn't happen again. She's been through a lot the past hour and I don't want the outcome resulting in death. Let's make sure she'll get to see her mother."

Everyone nodded. With that, Bailey started the surgery asking for her first instrument.

"Scalpel…." She said her voice a little shaky.

The surgery took ten hours and the patient came out alive. Wiping her forehead, April headed toward the scrub room feeling dizzy and unbalanced along the way. Washing her arms, April closed her eyes thinking she was getting sick but she wasn't hot and her stomach didn't feel upset. She dried off afterwards and leaned her waist against the sink then walked towards the door almost falling in the process. Luckily, she caught herself on the handle of the door and opened it feeling the cool breeze it brought. She walked out and saw Jackson and Meredith over at the nurses' station and began walking towards them. Standing beside Meredith, she began talking.

"Hey, what did you guys do all day?" Then suddenly, everything became black.

**I was really excited about writing this chapter, especially the ending! I hope you guys liked it and I hope it was worth the wait! I will try my best to be able to update more frequently but I make no promises. **

**On another note, I have the next few chapters planned out but I haven't written them yet. I was hoping I could get you guys to write in the reviews, or PM me whatever you prefer, what you would like to see in the story and I could try to fit it in so it makes sense. If I can't, I apologize.**

**This is my first story so go easy on me and let me know whether or not I should continue writing for this specific story! Thanks! **


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